Branded
by DarkPromises
Summary: An interesting thought. What if there was a Cousland out there besides Gerard and Fergus? Slightly A/U but just because I like to put my own spin on things. R&R gently!
1. Chapter 1

The camp was unusually quiet that evening. Alistair couldn't quite put his finger on what or why, but it was eerie that's for sure. Zevran was sewing a pair of Antivan leather boots Gerard had given him and Zevran, in all his zeal, shoved his foot too hard in them and slightly tore a hem. Brushing the incident off, he set off for a needle and thread to repair the damage, not before thanking Gerard profusely. The tall, silent Grey Warden just smiled and walked to the opposite side of the fire. Alistair smiled, "this man, he thought, " had been through so much and still managed to make sure every single one of his companions were happy or cajoled in some sort of way, while fearlessly leading them against the Blight." Alistair smiled at the thought. Gerard Cousland was an impressive man. Trained in the way of a warrior, "whose discipline was second to none" according to Alistair, Gerard commanded a battlefield the way any seasoned general would. "Gerard", Alistair spoke, "when we were in Denerim, you seemed like you were looking for someone. Did you find whatever you were looking for?". The man looked at Alistair with saddened eyes, "Actually, no. I'm unaware if this is a good thing or bad" the man replied, shuffling his feet. He took his shield and his family sword off his back, searching for a stone to sharpen them on . Alistair tossed his stone towards him, "What was it you were looking for? Maybe I saw it?". "I heavily doubt it, but I will tell you a story if you will indulge me". Gerard put the stone to his sword, took a deep breath and began.

"Whenever I was younger, around 7 or so, my mother had a daughter. I still remember pacing outside the room eagerly to make sure she was okay, but most importantly in my young mind, if I had a new playmate. Fergus was too old by then to pay me any mind as far as fake wars and battles I held between the stuffed toys I had procured from Maker knows where. My father came out beaming, proclaiming that he had a new daughter. I was crestfallen. I had hoped ever so much that it was another boy, that I had ran to my room and cried. After a day or so of pouting, I finally went in to see my little sister. She was perfect. A patch of red hair on top and the most beautiful grey eyes you'd ever seen. I was smitten. As she grew up, she was so spirited and passionate about everything she did. Whenever she was 5, I turned 12 and began training in the courtyard with the guards. She ran to the courtyard in the middle of a training session, I was swinging a sword in a larger arc then was appropriate and turned and knocked her clean out. I picked her up and ran her with all haste to Nan. She woke up an hour later, smiling and giggling like nothing ever happened. I attempted to apologize and she told me "Big bruva, it was just a scwatch. You need to contwol your swing mo'". I was shocked as anything. Here a 5 year old was giving me training lessons. When she turned 7, she took the Cousland brand."

Alistair stopped him. "The Cousland brand? Like a cattle brand?"

Gerard laughed, and stopped sharpening his sword, looking at the ex-templar's confused expression.

"The brand is merely a mark in a hidden part of the body, for example, mine is on my hip". Gerard set the sword down and pulled down the left side of his trousers and showed a small "brand?" of the olive branches on his hips. It seemed to be burned into his skin but the scar was so perfectly shaped it was questionable. "My father had it, my mother had it, Fergus had it, and my little sister had it. Oh excuse my manners, Aria was her name. It's been so long I have nearly forgotten". Gerard turned his gaze down dejectedly. "She was kidnapped 10 days after her 12th birthday. We never found her" Gerard sighed, and looked at Leliana across the camp, "Everytime I look at Leliana, her hair reminds me of her. She used to laugh so much and poke fun at me as I trained. I remember one time she actually picked up a sword and attempted to duel me. You should've seen the look on my mothers face" Gerard laughed, remembering the thought too well. "Ladies, I repeat, LADIES do not train with the men in the courtyard" My mother was so outraged, she lectured Aria for an hour. Whenever my sister escaped, my sister came back down to the courtyard to tell me that she wanted to practice with me before mother woke up in the mornings. I was astounded that she was actually interested in training. For almost a year, she rose before dawn and practiced an hour with me. She was starting to get pretty decent and then, well, as I said she was taken from the castle." Gerard rose from beside the fire, "I hope sometimes, just as I do for Fergus, that she is somewhere out there. And is looking for me too. Denerim just seemed like the most likely place for something like that to happen you know? Yesterday would have been her 20th birthday." Gerard sighed, " I'm going to bed Alistair, mind catching first watch tonight?". Alistair just stared at him and replied, "Not at all". Alistair watched as the man walked to his tent, opened the flap, and collapsed on his bedroll as the flap floated shut. "What a strange story. I hope maybe someday, he finds his sister. By the Maker, the poor man deserves it." Alistair walked over to where Gerard was polishing his sword and picked up the stone. He drew his own weapon and started to drag the stone along it's edge. "Then again, in these times, who knows who one might find?" Alistair set it to the back of his mind and thought of their next destination, The Brecilian Forest.


	2. The Lake

_A/N: I do not own Dragon Age, etcetera so on and so forth. This chapter is a little more involved in thoughts vs storytelling. We are making progress, I Promise _

"Maker's Breath, can we ever go somewhere where there isn't a problem waiting to be solved?" Alistair groaned as they trudged through the thick forest. "First, it's the Tower, now the Dalish. I think we should have a beacon somewhere. 'Just send smoke signals when you need assistance!'. Gerard laughed and looked at Wynne, who frowned, and then straightened up "Alistair, I believe your humor is a little harsh at a situation that is still new to Wynne. Perhaps an apology is due" Wynne glared at Gerard, "Do not speak for me young man. I have a mouth and tongue and use it as I see fit. Alistair, the issues of the Tower are not to be made in jest. Although, I appreciate everything you and the others did at the tower, it is still too fresh to belittle it." She gave Alistair that motherly look as if he had stolen sweets from the kitchen. Alistair just grumbled and looked at his feet, mumbling "Where to next, fearless leader?". Gerard looked at Wynne, Leliana, and Alistair and then looked at the forest ahead of him. No one ever told him that the Brecilian Forest was massive. And confusing. And filled with snarling werewolves that absolutely did not like them there. Gerard sighed and looked at the horizon. The sun was dipping dangerously low filling the horizon with it's beautiful pinks and oranges. "Let us rest here in this clearing for the night. We will not get far in the darkness". The party set up camp and Leliana started making a stew out of a few rabbits she had found and killed, not before of course profusely apologizing to the creatures. "They are such cute cuddly things but unfortunately my hungry belly is not" She whispered as she proceeded to cut them into strips and put into the pot. The party ate well that night, Wynne managed to salvage some nearby vegetables to add to the stew. Gerard rubbed his full stomach and leaned back and looked over at Alistair, " I will take first watch tonight, brother. Get some rest" Alistair looked at the man, startled. "Brother?" He thought, "He's never called me that." Alistair smiled and walked to his tent, more then happy to crawl into his bedroll. "My nice, soft….What?" He heard a rustle from a nearby tree. "Gerard!" he hissed, grabbing his longsword. Gerard crouched next to him and motioned for him to be quiet. The girls had long since gone to bed and he did not want to awaken them to what could be another rabbit. A flash of silver perished the thought. Gerard blinked and Alistair charged over to the bush, to find nothing there. "What was that!' Alistair said, flustered, expecting to find something behind the bush. Gerard shrugged, "Get some sleep. The smallest noises are making us jumpy today!". Alistair started back to his tent then looked over his shoulder at the bush again, shrugged, then opened the flap of his tent. Gerard went back to the fire and started to clean his breastplate from the darkspawn ichor that had gathered on the front. "Ugh, cleaning darkspawn intestines from all the crevices is not exactly my favorite chore. Not exactly the most pleasant smelling either," he thought to himself and immersed himself in the cleaning process. What he didn't hear was the light, lilting laugh from the tree above and the movement that flitted their visitor away.

"That conniving Zathrian!" Gerard fumed as the Lady spoke. He knew that had to be more to the story but Gerard had not thought that Zathrian would be the origin of the curse. He promised the Lady that he would bring Zathrian back quickly to parlay. Wynne chimed in, "We must listen to Zathrian's side as well, Gerard, or we are no better". "I know, Wynne, but I do not like having pertinent information held from me," Gerard said sighing. Alistair scoffed, "Oh by the way, I started this curse that is now affecting my people. I used blood magic and decided I would call on a demon for revenge. But no worries, just kill Witherfang and think nothing of my internal issues" Alistair looked at the Grey Warden and Gerard sent him a death glare. Alistair shrugged and they trudged forward through the ruins.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" Gerard asked Alistair once they were back at camp, "Making Zathrian give up his life as well as WItherfang or the Lady or whatever you want to call her? I just can't seem to shake feeling horrible about it". He sighed as he started to unbuckle his armor. Alistair looked at the Warden, "No I think you did the RIGHT thing. No matter what you personally thought, I believe you did what was best in the situation" Alistair sat down and stoked the fire. "Thanks" Gerard got up and put his armor into this tent and then walked off to talk to Leliana about supper. Alistair decided he was going to take a quick dip in a nearby lake before turning in that night. The qunari agreed to take first watch and Gerard took second, so that meant a full night's rest. Alistair walked partway through the forest next to the glen where they were camped before running into a small, clear lake. He heard a quiet humming and halted abruptly. "What is that!" He crouched low and looked towards the lake and almost fell over by what he saw. It was a WOMAN! A naked woman no less. Alistair felt guilty for looking but convinced himself it was for his own good to look on. "She might be an enemy no less" he reasoned. The woman was a statuesque beauty, possessing well muscled (albeit lean and feminine) torso and strong legs. She was no "small lithe princess" he thought, "possibly a trained warrior". He looked closely as she washed her upper body. Her hair was of the most beautiful red he had ever seen, shocking against her moonlit skin. And her butt! Alistair had never seen a naked woman, but he swore that was the most beautiful ass he had ever seen! "Alistair you pervert, she could be the one with a sword at your throat and all you'd think about is her butt. So much for Templar discipline" Alistair back quietly out of the lagoon and decided this was a creature not worth startling, much less disturbing. He breathed hard as he ran as quickly (and quietly) as he could back to camp. The qunari looked him him quizzically, "Are you running from something human." Sten said flatly, observing Alistair with frown. "No. Just exercising!" Alistair said with an exasperated grin. He walked slowly to his tent as the qunari turned to patrol the outskirts of the camp again. "who knows. I probably dreamed everything that just happened.." he slipped off his chainmail and into his underclothes. "She really did have a nice butt though" as he drifted off to sleep.


	3. Shadow

_A/N: Short chapter today. But a very important one! Thanks to BlackWolfHellHound for the review! Enjoy __ and as usual R&R._

Alistair woke to the rattling of steel and Gerard collapsing into his tent. He jumped out of his bed roll before Gerard had a chance to fall on him, grabbing for his chainmail in the corner.

"What in Maker's Breath is going on!"

Gerard got up and grabbed his sword, growling at Alistair, "The camp is under attack by some sort of thieves or mercenaries. Problem is they move so quickly you see black then nothing. All you see is the devastation they leave in their wake." Gerard then ran back into the clearing, hoping to catch one of the stealthy thieves.

Alistair shoved his armor on as quickly as possible and stepped through the ruins of his tent into the sunlight. He saw a flash of black then his shield (which he failed to pick up in all the mess) disappeared and his tent shredded.

"Maker's blood! What in Thedas is going on!" Alistair thought to himself as he tried to formulate a strategy. He saw a flash of black again and Leliana screaming running out of her tent in her smallclothes.

"They stole my blanket! And my Daggers!" Leliana yelped furiously. The bard searched pensively for her leathers. Once she located them in her disarrayed tent, she buckled them on and grabbed her bow.

The party saw two more flashes of black before the rest of the party joined them. Sten came running from his glen where he was collecting herbs and Morrigan, in wolf form, came trotting into the clearing.

"How are we going to stop this thing? Zevran! Use your stealth or something!" Gerard yelled at the elf. Zevran nodded and faded into the shadows….

OOOMPH! There was a flash of black and Zevran appeared in the creatures way, colliding with it. The party saw a black cloak with legs splayed on the sides of Zevran.

"Well this seems the most appropriate position for me to catch someone, no?" Zevran joked as he tied the creatures' arms behind its back. The collision seemed to knock it out.

"Gerard, help me lift this creature so we may see whom our assailant is."

Gerard trotted over to Zevran and lifted the body, when the cloak shifted and the hood fell from the creature's face.

"Maker, it's a woman!"

Alistair's eyes nearly fell out. This was THE same woman he saw bathing last night. He cursed himself silently for not saying anything to Gerard or the party.

The woman moaned and her eyes fluttered open, slowly taking in her situation. She looked at Gerard and Alistair who were towering over her, then closed her eyes again as she began to speak.

"I suppose an 'Oops' would not be an appropriate thing to say at the moment"

"I'd like you to give me one reason why I should not execute you on the spot for attacking us and stealing our things" Gerard fumed.

"Because I've been looking for you. The Grey Wardens, correct? " 

"Who has sent you then? We already have one Crow in our entourage, I do not think they would send another, Zevran?"

"You are correct in assuming so, friend. The Crows send only one to do a job." Zevran stated, observing the young woman's face. She glared at the elf as he looked her up and down.

"I am no candy to be eaten with your mind,ser, you can kindly turn your gaze."

Gerard scoffed, then replied, "For someone that is at our mercy at the moment, It is in your best interest not to be rude."

He stood up and walked a few paces from the girl and turned his back, thinking for a moment.

"_She has demonstrated extreme skill in whatever she was doing. Maybe she will be useful if we could get her allegiance."_

He turned back around, and opened his mouth to speak as she cut him off.

"You are Gerard Cousland are you not?"

"How do you know who I am?" sending a shiver up his spine as she said his name.

"You have changed a lot, but you still hold yourself with the same cockiness as you did when you were younger"

"Who are you!" Gerard's voice raised in irritation and surprise. This woman became more and more strange with every word she spoke. He covered the distance between them and held her to the ground.

"Tell me how you know who I am!"

The woman looked up at him, meeting his green glare with her cool grey one.

"Many people call me a Shadow, a person half apparent. Some think of me as a demon, leaving devastation in my wake. You know me as something a little more personal…"

She shifted, moving her cloak and shirt to show a patch of skin on her hip.

"My name is Aria"


	4. Hmmm

_A/N: Yea we are going somewhere __ This should fill in a little background plus moving on with the story. R&R as I am still new to this and would LOVE the feedback _

Gerard fell back, stunned. _"My little sister? Is this truly possible? Why has she appeared after so many years…what happened to her…."_ So many questions swam through his head, giving him a massive headache.

"Well, I suppose a 'Hi' or 'Good to see you' is a little too much to ask for?" Aria said with a smirk, "Oh and all of your things are in a pile next to that tree over there."

"Why did you steal all of our things to get our attention? Seems a little over the top don't you think?" Alistair huffed. He was not feeling so terribly happy about this particular event.

"What makes you think that you can come strolling in here, causing a ruckus, RUINING a pair of my best shoes, and then just think you are going to float off?" Leliana roared. "Uh Oh" Alistair thought, "she messed with a pair of Leliana's shoes. This is going to be good"

Aria stood up, brushing the dirt off of her velvet cloak, and replied coolly "Your shoes received no damage. You will find that they are just as you left them." She turned to her brother, still gaping like a fool, "Come, Brother, We have much to speak of…". Aria began to walk to a nearby glen while Gerard gladly followed.

Alistair gaped as Gerard followed without a word or question. "I don't understand why he just left like that. How could he just go with a woman he just met into a secluded area without a second thought…"

"Because he recognizes it truly is his sister, you dolt." Morrigan swept past Alistair, giving him a look of disgust, "It doesn't take much to prove you are someone's sister when she has a mark burned into her hip"

"Well, Excuse me for being a little skeptical of this situation. 'Hi I stole all of your stuff, trashed your camp, and then I reveal I am your leader's long lost sister so forgive me'. Sounds very fishy" Alistair huffed as he walked over to the ruins of his tent. _"But Gerard looks happy so I suppose there is some merit to the situation…"_

Alistair sighed as he thought of the man that had become his best friend. "_If she is not a disappointment to him, then maybe all this mayhem is for the better."_

A couple of hours later, Gerard and Aria returned to the camp. Aria had shifted her black cloak off of her, showing her immaculately kept heavy chain armor. Alistair was stunned. Seeing the back of this woman had been rattling enough but seeing her face to face was just as…..terrifying? exciting? He couldn't quite put a word to it. Her face was a delicate shade of sand, soft and pure, with almond eyes of grey and a round, full mouth. She held herself with all of a noble's grace, a warrior's grace even, as she carried herself beside her brother. Something in Alistair's fingers tingled. _ "How strange. I don't see Morrigan or Wynne around.."_ recognizing the familiar tingle as mana being near. Alistair dismissed it as a passing feeling. _"Maybe I'm just tired"_

Aria walked to the fire and sat down, gazing deep into the blaze. Alistair sauntered over thinking to say "Hi" but was stopped short by Gerard before he arrived at the fire's edge. "Brother, Let us speak for a moment."

"_Uh oh"_

Gerard led Alistair to the far side of camp stopping short of a clump of pine trees. Gerard sighed, and then began, "Alistair, She wants to fight with us against the Blight."

"WHAT? She comes out of nowhere, trashing our camp, and then wants to join us? Excuse me for being a little skeptical." Alistair fumed. He had no idea why he was so angry. _"Maybe it's because he actually found his sister like he wanted but….I wonder how that will affect him in the long run?"_ Alistair dismissed his anger as insecurity. Perhaps he was just being protective of the Warden.

Aria got up from her cozy spot by the campfire and walked over to where Gerard and Alistair were talking.

"Gentleman, a word?" Aria stepped over next to Gerard.

"Do we have a choice" Alistair replied.

"No, not really"Aria scoffed. " Alistair, I know you are….undecided, on my request to join the party against the Blight, but I assure I am no pampered noble's daughter. If my skills plundering the camp gave you no indication then perhaps a demonstration would?" She smiled coyly as she looked in Alistair's face for a reply.

"Iaccept, my lady" Alistair smiled, bowing to his opponent.


End file.
